Goodbye cohesion, hello competitiveness, Hübner tells Spain
Now that Spain has completed its cohesion journey, it is now time to focus on competitiveness, said EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner on a visit to Cantabria on 9 July. Key to remaining competitive are research, development and innovation, she said. 'Cantabria has proved to be an example for the whole Union on how to soundly implement cohesion policy. Now it is time to pursue and strengthen the efforts undertaken on research, technology and, in particular, innovation,' said Ms Hübner. Increased competition from emerging economies has put pressure on all European countries to look for new ways to ensure competitiveness. Spain is no different. A number of Spanish regions have seen industry move out; some of them could attract companies back through modernising their industrial base. 'To this aim, R&D [research and development] and innovation emerge as the over-arching priorities in order to be able to attract investments and to compete in international markets with high value-added products and services,' said Ms Hübner. The Commissioner cited the Basque Country as an example of a region that has managed to revamp a traditional sector, thereby remaining competitive. The region's metallurgy sector has retained significant market niches in high technology and value-added manufacturing. Spain is also thinking ahead and using innovation to prepare the country for climate change. Spain has developed leading technologies, including desalination plants and wind turbines. 'Analysis of the factors which will drive economic growth in the future shows the increasing role of innovation, which already today is responsible for more than 50% of the variation in levels of regional GDPs,' said Ms Hübner. 'As a result more and more weight needs to be given to resources at local level, to research institutions, clusters of enterprises, innovative businesses and the skills of the work force.' Providing research capacities is one way to attract investment, but on its own will not suffice. 'They constitute the hardware of regional innovation systems, which, in order to run smoothly, require also software, a set of networks, triple helix interactions,' said the Commissioner. She referred to a recent study from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which highlighted the advantages to regional innovation systems of using proximity to build up relationships based on trust. Open innovation and other forms of networked innovation depend on this trust. Networks are particularly important for rural regions seeking to embrace innovation. The OECD has found that the regions with the highest rates of employment creation are rural regions, and that this success can be traced back to policies targeting innovation. 'The lesson we can take from this is that, in the context of globalisation, innovation is a must for all regions. And the more underdeveloped they are, the more innovative they have to be,' said Ms Hübner. Of course rural regions should not attempt to adopt a strategy adopted by an urban region. While urban regions should concentrate on investment in R&D, the Commissioner advised rural regions to focus more on investments in education and training. 'They should also develop the alternative use of mature technologies rather than try to compete in emerging technology,' she added. For the period of 2007 until 2013, the Commission wants innovation to be 'in the core of regional policy', said Ms Hübner. Preliminary estimates suggest that innovation expenditure under the new regional policy will triple compared with the previous funding period, rising to €55 billion. But in turn, the Commission is asking all regions lagging behind to put in place a regional innovation strategy.
Countries
Spain